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La Granja - Ibiza not as you know it

In a converted stone farmhouse on Ibiza lies a rural retreat that celebrates the island's agricultural heritage

If you were to seek predictions on upcoming travel trends, the opinions of Claus Sendlinger would merit close attention. As founder of Design Hotels, his ability to create hotspots (see Papaya Playa Project in Mexico and San Giorgio on Mykonos) and nose out what travellers want before they know they want it is impressive. His latest venture, on Ibiza, is an exercise in rural simplicity, signifying a key change in high-end hospitality and a move towards hotels offering much more than just a place to stay. 'The farmhouse is the golf course of the twenty-first century,' says Claus of his new direction. And La Granja - which means simply 'the farm' - epit-omises the rural farm-stay concept.

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It was only last year that Claus had the vision for a back-to-the-land experience on the north of an island that has long been a place of subsistence farming, but is better known for its hedonistic partying. He called on friends at German design company Dreimeta to help him realise it and, in an astonishing feat, La Granja was opened just 90 days later. At the heart of the estate is the farmhouse, a rough-hewn, stone building that houses nine bedrooms (there is also a guest house that sleeps five). The bones of the 300-year-old house remain - chunky beams, 'perfect windows' - but rooms now bear the hallmarks that will make them Insta hits: dark grey walls and temptingly tactile stone floors, barely furnished with old wooden stools and rattan baskets. 'It's very simple, almost Monkish in a way,' says Claus, tapping into the growing metropolitan desire to get away from it all, as well as the wabi-sabi concept of beauty in imperfection.

But La Granja is not just about fulfilling urbanite fan-tasies of rural living, it's about actually embracing the simple farm lifestyle of yore - in which people ate, talked, imbibed. There are no TVs hidden behind mirrors. You're unlikely to see people tapping away at their computers. There's no air-con - 'because people have managed to live here without it for hundreds of years'. A stay here may be styled beautifully, yes, and come with plenty of alcohol - served from a mezcal bar built into an old carob tree - but it is also true to the ideals of simplicity and agronomy. 'It's not posh,' says Claus with pride, while acknowledging, 'it's not for everyone.'

And yet it is testament to the growing interest in agricultural science, natural food production and our need for personal connections that La Granja has become an almost instant must-go and a talking point on the island, despite being nowhere near a beach or a nightclub. The aim is not just to reflect the region's agricultural history, but to harness a greater awareness of the land and facil-itate what Claus refers to as 'a retreat for the senses', with social events, feasts and seasonal celebrations. 'We want people to come and say: "I met someone interesting."' Across the estate, around which guests can roam alongside pigs and chickens, are areas for vegetables and herbs, and ridged terraces for growing multiple fruit varieties. The farm is an experiment in biodynamics and is a work in progress involving careful water management and crop mixing. That means it still yields the most amazing fresh tomatoes, beetroot and almonds that guests eat at communal tables for dinner, but is not quite at the 'dream stage' of being zero waste and self sustainable.

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For next year, plans are afoot for a natural pool in the woods, a proper library and a salon-style area. But now, this is a destination that brings new and quite lovely meaning to the island's turn on, tune in, check out ethos. A place that attempts to imbue a spiritual high, not via a chemical haze but through physical and mental nourishment.